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They could've OEM'd the lamp, for example, from Phillips. And a tiny-factor WiFi gadgets is hardly a rocket science, products like EyeFi has been around for sev

They could've OEM'd the lamp, for example, from Phillips. And a tiny-factor WiFi gadgets is hardly a rocket science, products like EyeFi has been around for several years. There's really nothing in the project that screams what you say it does. [0] http://www.eye.fi http://www.eye.fi

raverbashing 14y ago
I reread their product description and I still stand by my opinion And even the article says (and they agree it's an OEM lamp): "The Lifx is priced at $49 per bulb, which means that you’re basically buying a basic WeMo switch and getting the LED bulb — and all the technology merging the two into one bulb-sized piece of hardware — for free. It just doesn’t seem likely." They can prove me wrong, sure, by shipping the product.
- Dylan16807 14y ago
  Yeah? So? The article is being disingenuous by picking a bulky and very high-priced wifi product.
  - raverbashing 14y ago
    Because surely a smaller and more complex device is going to cost less than a WeMo, sure It is not overpriced if you factor the cost of electronic control of the lamp
    - Dylan16807 14y ago
      Did you not see the earlier link of a full computer with wifi crammed into an SD card for less price? WeMo is not a good cheap benchmark. Heck, I could dissect a router and glue on a relay in a smaller package for under fifty.
      - raverbashing 14y ago
        The EyeFi? Yes, I saw it. Cheapest one is 39.99, let's take $5 for the 'SD' part, so it's $35 "Heck, I could dissect a router and glue on a relay in a smaller package for under fifty" Cheapest WeMo is $50 so you're almost there already You can try to have a homemade solution for less, sure but you'll have a small price advantage and maybe not follow all standards relating to switches (isolation, etc, it will work, though). Not counting the software work. Now, for their lamp they would need 3 power channels, instead of one 'on-off' control, which is certainly more expensive and complex.
        Dylan16807 14y ago
        You're not going to take off anything for the overelaborate processor and the fact that it's smaller than we need for the light? And by under fifty I didn't mean barely. Here, look, miniature wifi for 8 dollars retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833180092 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833180... The wifi component of this is not the expensive part. LEDs, LED power supply, and heatsink are going to be most of the price. This is not a fifty dollar wifi device with a free light. This is a thirty dollar light with a ten dollar wifi device slipped in.
veemjeem 14y ago
I'm curious how their device might be configured. The eyefi includes a usb dongle that require you to use a computer to configure the wifi settings with. They could do something like the electric imp where you configure it via sending it data via light. I don't think this is as easy as you make it sound -- there are definitely engineering challenges to make it easy for the end user.
- adunk 14y ago
  Many of these embeddeded wifi devices start in a mode where they act as a wifi hotspot/access point, with a pre-defined password. One connects to the hotspot with a smartphone and opens a web browser, which provides a simple web UI that offers a way to select a wifi network to use as well as the password. The device then reboots into the new wifi network. A bit cumbersome, but certainly doable. (Not necessarily something people would like to do for every lightbulb in their home though.)

raverbashing 14y ago

I reread their product description and I still stand by my opinion And even the article says (and they agree it's an OEM lamp): "The Lifx is priced at $49 per bulb, which means that you’re basically buying a basic WeMo switch and getting the LED bulb — and all the technology merging the two into one bulb-sized piece of hardware — for free. It just doesn’t seem likely." They can prove me wrong, sure, by shipping the product.

Dylan16807 14y ago
Yeah? So? The article is being disingenuous by picking a bulky and very high-priced wifi product.
- raverbashing 14y ago
  Because surely a smaller and more complex device is going to cost less than a WeMo, sure It is not overpriced if you factor the cost of electronic control of the lamp
  - Dylan16807 14y ago
    Did you not see the earlier link of a full computer with wifi crammed into an SD card for less price? WeMo is not a good cheap benchmark. Heck, I could dissect a router and glue on a relay in a smaller package for under fifty.
    - raverbashing 14y ago
      The EyeFi? Yes, I saw it. Cheapest one is 39.99, let's take $5 for the 'SD' part, so it's $35 "Heck, I could dissect a router and glue on a relay in a smaller package for under fifty" Cheapest WeMo is $50 so you're almost there already You can try to have a homemade solution for less, sure but you'll have a small price advantage and maybe not follow all standards relating to switches (isolation, etc, it will work, though). Not counting the software work. Now, for their lamp they would need 3 power channels, instead of one 'on-off' control, which is certainly more expensive and complex.
      - Dylan16807 14y ago
        You're not going to take off anything for the overelaborate processor and the fact that it's smaller than we need for the light? And by under fifty I didn't mean barely. Here, look, miniature wifi for 8 dollars retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833180092 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833180... The wifi component of this is not the expensive part. LEDs, LED power supply, and heatsink are going to be most of the price. This is not a fifty dollar wifi device with a free light. This is a thirty dollar light with a ten dollar wifi device slipped in.

veemjeem 14y ago

I'm curious how their device might be configured. The eyefi includes a usb dongle that require you to use a computer to configure the wifi settings with. They could do something like the electric imp where you configure it via sending it data via light. I don't think this is as easy as you make it sound -- there are definitely engineering challenges to make it easy for the end user.

adunk 14y ago
Many of these embeddeded wifi devices start in a mode where they act as a wifi hotspot/access point, with a pre-defined password. One connects to the hotspot with a smartphone and opens a web browser, which provides a simple web UI that offers a way to select a wifi network to use as well as the password. The device then reboots into the new wifi network. A bit cumbersome, but certainly doable. (Not necessarily something people would like to do for every lightbulb in their home though.)